E-cigarettes are often used for pleasure by smokers who are not trying to kick the habit. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Public health experts are demanding that electronic cigarettes be renamed in a bid to reverse their fast-growing appeal to young people.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) wants the devices to no longer be described as anything involving the word "cigarettes" and instead become classified as "nicotine sticks".

Strong action is needed to stop young people in particular seeing e-cigarettes as cool and glamorous, as some may then start smoking real cigarettes as a result, it fears.

"What's in a name? Quite a lot actually, when it comes to electronic cigarettes. Our view is that they should not be called 'e-cigarettes'. We need to distance the naming from cigarettes", Shirley Cramer, the society's chief executive, told the Guardian.

"A name change would minimise the appeal of such cigarettes to young people. We want to ensure that these products don't begin to be seen as lifestyle choices and as something that appears cool or trendy and we would thus want to see them called 'nicotine sticks' or something like that", Cramer added.

"If you called them nicotine sticks instead, it would make them less attractive and would hopefully discourage young people from using them and make them less swayed by all the advertising and marketing."

The RSPH, which represents 6,000 public health specialists across the UK, wants e-cigarette manufacturers to voluntarily agree to change the names or, if they do not, for ministers to consider legislating.

E-cigarettes were invented in China as a way of helping smokers quit, but are often used for pleasure by smokers who are not trying to kick the habit. Doctors and health charities are divided over the threat posed by the devices, which an estimated 2.1 million Britons use, and how to limit harm from them, though hard evidence about their impact is still in short supply.

Next week a group of leading British experts, including Professor Robert West, the director of tobacco research at University College London, will publish a detailed critique in the journal Addiction, of the World Health Organisation's demand this week for tighter regulation of e-cigarettes, including a ban on using them indoors.

In a new policy paper on how to respond to their growing popularity the RSPH says: "Electronic cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoked tobacco, and despite some products being visually similar to cigarettes, they are essentially nicotine containing products, or NCPs, like patches and gum". Renaming them "nicotine sticks" would remind consumers of their true purpose, Cramer said.

ASH, the anti smoking charity, backed a name change. "ASH shares RSPH's concern that the term 'e-cigarette' is not a particularly useful description given that the products are not cigarettes, do not contain tobacco and they are not smoked. Including 'cigarette' in the name is confusing and does little to help public understanding of these devices", said Amanda Sandford, its research manager.

"Finding the right word is tricky but as users are increasingly referring to the products as 'vapourisers' and the act of using them as 'vaping', this may be preferable", she added.

The RSPH also wants tight controls on the promotion of e-cigarettes, such as the endorsement of particular brands by celebrities such as Mischa Barton, Bruno Mars and Rick Rock, and their positioning in shops, which can often be close to confectionery.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We have no plans to regulate the names used for these products. But we are taking steps to protect children by banning them for under 18s and the European Tobacco products Directive [in 2016] will bring in new rules about how they are advertised."